Christmas Tree Roundup

Crab Pots Are Evergreen in Chesapeake Beach

By Michelle Steel

Chesapeake Beach has a new Christmas tree.
It’s not pine, spruce or fir.
It’s 255 crabs pots stacked 20 feet tall and trimmed with buoys, garland, lights, soccer-sized sparkly balls and a larger-than-life blue crab.
The nautical tree is dedicated to the watermen of Chesapeake Country. The surprise to the town was erected in secret in the early morning hours of Nov. 25 by Chesapeake Beach Mayor Bruce Wahl and public works superintendent Jay Berry with a crew of five. The job took six hours.
“It was Bruce’s idea,” Berry said. “He saw a prototype tree made from Maine lobster pots and thought it would work for us and the town, too.”
Abners Crab House owner Bobby Abner donated the crab pots and the site for a demo.
“We built it round at first, but that didn’t work,” Berry said. “Now, it’s shaped just like a tree and is three-dimensional.”
The tree’s introduction at Chesapeake Beach’s lighting ceremony drew a crowd as large as the tree itself. The secret mission was illuminated to a chorus of ooh’s and ahh’s.